PANJIM: Panjim could lose out on being in the first list of cities for the Smart City Development Mission. Not only has the State government failed to inform the Centre about the possibility of submitting the ‘quality’ city development plan, the cabinet is also yet to clear the proposal.
“The proposal is yet to receive the government nod. We are waiting for it. The deadline was set as December 8, after which the proposal has to be put in proper format and submitted to the Union Ministry on December 14, to be selected this year,” a senior official said, admitting that the ‘State is running out of time’.
The deadline for submitting smart city proposals to the Centre is before December 15. The December 8 deadline for the cabinet nod was set by Goa State Infrastructure Development Corporation (GSIDC), the nodal agency for monitoring and forwarding the SCP to the Union Ministry for Urban Development.
The official also confirmed that the government has so far not informed the Union Ministry about the possibility of submitting the report by the due date. “Many states have informed the Centre by when they are expected to submit the proposal,” the official added.
Besides in the first year, the Union Government is expected to fund only 10 cities, instead of the proposed 20 cities.
Consultant ICLEI South Asia has drafted a Rs 1313.74 crore Smart City Proposal (SCP) for Panjim. It was approved by the High Powered Committee on Smart City on November 27 and later by the Corporation of City of Panaji (CCP).
CCP corporators and some city-based activists had initially raised apprehensions on whether Panjim will get selected for funds in the first year. “There is no problem if we don’t get selected in the first year. We can apply in the second or third year. All 100 selected cities will get funds,” CCP Commissioner Sanjit Rodrigues had said.
As per national reports, cities which could make it to the first list include Pune, Thane, Navi Mumbai, Vizag, Jaipur, Udaipur, Surat, Bhopal and NDMC area of Delhi. The announcement in this regard is expected to be made on January 26, 2016 by the Prime Minister.
